Five days after investigators believe a disgruntled patient opened fire inside a Midtown Atlanta medical building, many of the offices reopened Monday, according to Northside Hospital.
But Laureate Medical Group, where two employees were among the five women shot last week, remained closed another day. Four victims survived the May 3 shooting at Northside Medical Midtown and three remain in the hospital. A fifth woman died at the scene of the shooting, which sparked a massive manhunt to find the suspect: Deion Duwane Patterson.
Patterson, 24, was located eight hours later in Cobb County. On Monday, he remained in the Fulton County Jail on murder and aggravated assault charges. His mother, Minyone Patterson, declined to speak to a reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday, saying only that she was praying.
Northside Hospital said those returning to the Midtown building Monday were met with additional security guards.
“Employees and physicians are returning to the facility — reuniting under a heavy cloud of grief yet resuming their important services to their patients and their families,” Northside posted online. “They are being greeted by additional uniformed security officers, Northside spiritual leaders, human resources representatives, and behavioral and spiritual health counselors.”
On Monday afternoon, there were few signs that the medical facility had been partially closed following last week’s shooting and the full parking deck and bustling offices communicated that business had resumed as usual. Security guards, including an off-duty police officer displaying a badge and gun, were posted at the main lobby entrance and in the elevator entrance from the parking deck. Otherwise, Northside’s stone gray building gave no hint of the prior week’s tragedy.
Northside said its spiritual health team has been onsite at Grady Memorial Hospital to provide comfort and counseling to the victims’ families.
On Friday, Grady Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Jansen said two of the victims remained in critical condition. But doctors have been pleased with the progress all four had made since arriving minutes after the shooting.
“This is great news,” he said. “When you have this type of trauma, it doesn’t always go this well.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Hospital officials have not released the victims’ names, but arrest warrants identified those injured as Lisa Glynn, Georgette Whitlow, Jazzmin Daniel and Alesha Hollinger. They range in age from 25 to 71.
According to police, Glynn was shot in the abdomen, Whitlow was shot in the arm, Daniel was hit multiple times in the abdomen area and Hollinger was shot in the face.
While their physical wounds heal, Jansen said the victims must also deal with the emotional trauma they are experiencing following such a horrifying ordeal.
“The post-traumatic stress is real and it’s going to impact all of them and we know that,” Jansen said. “Every one of them knows what happened. They know it and their families know it.”
Funeral plans were pending Monday for Amy St. Pierre, who was killed in last week’s shooting.
— Staff writer Henri Hollis contributed to this article.
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